At least 40 Youth Arrested in Shopian ahead of Polls

Ahead of the urban Local body and Panchayat Polls, at least 40 youth have been picked from the Shopian District of South Kashmir.

Locals from the area while speaking to The Kashmiriyat said the the Forces have been conducting nocturnal raids and as many as fourty youth have been picked up from various Shopian areas during this raids.

Locals from Heff Shermal area of Shopian which is the native of Slain Hizb commander said that at least six youth including Nisar Ahmed Padder, Showkat Ahmed Lone, Sameer Ahmed Malla, Shiraz Ahmed Teeli, Gazi Mushtaq have been picked up during nocturnal raids.

While in Imam Sahib area of Shopian at least a dozen youth have been picked up during raids conducted in the area.

Some of them have been identified as Mushtaq Ahmed Parray, Rashid Ahmed, Aijaz Ahmed.

Several youth and a 60 year old resident of Kundalan Shopian identified as Abdul Quyoom Parray has also been arrested during a nocturnal raids.

Locals from Chitragam told The Kashmiriyat that Zahoor Ahmed Bhat, Zahoor Ahmed Mir, Fayaz Ahmed Malik and a few other residents of Chitragam have been picked up during raids conducted by Forces in this Shopian Locality.

Similar Raids have been conducted in Wuyen, Babapora, Awnera, Durpora, Nagbal and several Shopian areas, Sources told The Kashmiriyat.

A Police Official said a few youth have been picked up in Shopian ahead of the elections. “They have been arrested merely to avoid law and order problem,” he said.

The upcoming Urban Local bodies Elections will be held in four phases on 08, 10, 13, 16 of October in Jammu Kashmir.

The Kashmiriyat recently reported that 177 Seats from South Kashmir have No Contestants, while 215 have a Single candidate.

Figures available to The Kashmiriyat have revealed that out of the total 634 Municipal wards in the valley, no candidate has filled Nomination papers for 177 municipal wards while a single candidate has filed nomination papers for 215 wards.